Anticreeper for rails.



J. G. PORTTEUS.

ANTICREEPER FOR RA|LS.,

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.25, I915.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

7ZZZZK 5+ I UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE.

JAMES Gr. PORTTEUS, OF MARION, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN ,C. HASWELL, OF MARION, INDIANA.

ANTICREEPER FOR RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

To aZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JAMns G. PORTTEUS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Marion, county of Grant, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anticreepers for Rails, of which I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

The present invention has for its object to provide a simple and cheap construction of rail anchor which will abut against a tie and prevent the longitudinal movement of the rail.

The invention consists in the features of novelty hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 isa plan view of my anti-creeper as applied to the rail flanges. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation.

In the accompanying drawing, A designates the rail to which my anti-creeper is applied.

1 designates a cross bar extending beneath the flanges of the rail A and having a small jaw 2 at one QllCl thereof. An enlarged jaw 3 is formed on the opposite end of the bar 1 from the jaw 2 and has a depressed surface 5. The distance from the upper point 7 of the jaw 2 to the inner wall 8 of the jaw 3 is slightly greater than the width of the rail base. A wedge 9 having an abutment 10 fits between the bottom surface of the rail flange and the surface 5. This wedge is constructed with an upwardly extending wedging shoulder 11 which presses against the edge of the rail flange and the inner wall 8 of the jaw 3. The portion 12 of the wedge is so constructed that it engages the surface 5 of the cross bar 1 and forces the flange of the rail upwardly into tight engagement with the upper sur face 13 of the jaw 3. The end of the portion 12 of the wedge is preferably split as at 14, to form the lug 15 which is adapted to be bent outwardly, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and into engagement with the jaw 3 to prevent the withdrawal of the wedge 9 in case of the rail moving the abutment 10 away from the tie.

The manner of applying my improved anti-creeper to a rail is as follows: The wedge is first removed and the cross bar 1 is applied to the rail by slipping the small jaw 2 beneath the rail and sliding the jaw 3 over the flange of the rail until the edge of the flange engages with the surface 8 of the large j aw 3. With the parts in such position, the small jaw 2 may now be raised up and moved over the adjacent flange of the rail. The abutment 10 of the wedge 9 is then placed against the tie and the cross bar 1, with the jaws 2 and 3, is moved back toward the tie so that the wedge 9 passes into the depressed portion of the large jaw 3. A slight tap with a hammer on the sides 7 of the cross bar 1 distant from the tie forces the crossbar 1 back and wedges the jaws into tight engagement with the rail flanges. The lug 15 is then bent outwardly, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to prevent the wedge 9 becoming dislodged.

A double wedging action is produced owing to the respective slopes given to the outer surfaces of the wedge and the surfaces and S of the large jaw 3. The surface of the flange 11 of the wedge is so constructed that it tends to force the inner Wall 8 of the large jaw outwardly as the wedge is forced between the wall 8 and the edge of the flange of the rail. The result of this is to draw the opposite rail flange into tight engagement with the small jaw 2 and also to put considerable pressure upon the part of the rail flange in engagement with the flange 11. The lower portion 12 of the wedge is so constructed that it wedges the rail flange upwardly and the surface. 5 downwardly, causing the flange to be tightly compressed between the wedge 12 and the surface 13 of the jaw 3. In this way, a double gripping action is produced which greatly increases the efliciency of the anticreeper without materially increasing the cost of manufacture thereof.

Obviously, various changes may be made in the construction of my device Without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, for example, in the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, the bottom and outer surfaces of the wedge 9 are inclined or tapered from the bottom 10 toward the point of the wedge and the surfaces 5 and 8 are correspondingly tapered; but it is not essential that these surfaces should all be tapered so long as their relative shape is such as to effect a wedging action of the parts when the cross bar 1 is forced by the rail toward the cross tie with which the abutment 10 of the rails will contact. I wish it understood, therefore, that the precise details of the invention may be varied without departing from the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is 1. An anti-creeper for railway rails, comprising a cross bar adapted to extend be neath and. bear against the bottom of the rail base and having jaws at its opposite ends adapted to bear against the upper surface of the base flanges of the rail, one of said jaws being recessed at one end to form a space extending below the upper bearing surface of the cross bar, and a wedge passing through said recessed jaw and beneath the rail base, that part of said wedge within the aw being provided with a flange to engage the under side of the rail base and with an upstanding lug to engage the edge of the rail flange, and an abutment extending below the rail base to engage the cross tie.

2. An anti-creeper for railway rails, comprising a cross bar adapted to extend beneath the rail base, said cross bar having jaws at its opposite ends to engage the upper surface of the flanges of the rail base and having adjacent one of said jaws a part adapted to bear against the bottom of the rail base, the part of said bar adjacent one of said jaws being depressed and the jaw being expanded to form a space to receive a wedge, said wedge having its bottom and outer side inclined and having a part adapted to bear against the under side of the rail base andhaving along its outer side an upstanding rib to engage the edge of the rail base.

3. An anti-creeper for railway rails, comprising a cross bar adapted to extend beneath the base of the rail, said cross bar having jaws at the ends thereof, one of said jaws being adapted to grip one of the flanges of the rail at top and bottom and the other of said jaws being adapted to grip the top only of the other rail. flange and having a portion depressed below the bearing surface of the cross bar, and a wedge adapted to fit within said depressed portion, said wedge having an upwardly extendin shoulder to bear against the edge of the rail flange and terminating at said edge, said wedge having a wedging portion extending below and bearing against the bottom of the rail flange, and an abutment at the end of said wedge.

a. An anti-creeper for railway ails, co1nprising a cross bar adapted to extend beneath the base of the rail, said cross bar having jaws at the ends thereof, the bearing surfaces of the upper flanges of said jaws being arranged substantially at equal distances above the upper surface of the cross bar to permit both flanges to engage the upper surfaces of the rail base, one of said. jaws having a depressed portion, and a wedge adapted to fit within said depressed portion, said wedge having an upper surface arranged to extend beneath and bear against the underside of the rail base and having an upstanding shoulder arranged to bear against the edge only of the rail flange and terminating at a distance from the inner edge of the upper flange of the jaw wherein said wedge is located.

JAMES G. PORTTEUS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

